There Is No Time For Fear (Aragorn x oc)

twelve

Iston POV

When we enter helms deep, I still feel as if nothing around me is real.

"Make way for the king. Make way for Theoden. Make way for the king." Gamling yells.

"So few. So few of you have returned." Eowyn says, looking at the small group of returning riders.

"Our people are safe. We have paid for it with many lives." Theoden says in a pained voice.

"Lord Aragorn, where is he? "She asks.

"He fell." I choke out. She looks stunned and turns to Gimli as if to make sure that what I'm saying is true. He nods and tears fill her eyes.

I stop paying attention to what's happening around me and just follow the lead of Legolas. We make our way around Helm's Deep, barricading doors and gathering supplies.

Something hits my leg and I look down to see Freds pulling on my robes.

"Where is your mother? She should be here." I ask her, glancing around. 

"She didn't make it." Éothain answers my question. I see the pain on his face, Freda is not yet old enough to understand, but he can. She is dead.

I kneel down to look him in the eyes.

"I know the hurt you feel and although there is nothing I can do to take it away, know that you and your sister won't be left here to take care of yourselves. I will make sure that you are both kept safe in all of this." He nods. "Don't be afraid to cry. You are strong, you both are."

Tears stream down his face and I realize that I'm crying too.

"Take Freda. Make sure she's safe and, if it will help ease the pain, help Lady Eowyn in any way you can." I instruct Éothain, who nods and wipes his tears. "Stay safe."

He takes his sister's hand and joins the stream of women and children who are moving towards the caves.

I step away from the yelling and mayhem of the street and behind an old, crumbling, stone monument. I look up and see a vision before me.

"Elvion." My father says.

"Adar." I try to wipe the tears from my face.

"I am sorry. It is never easy to lose the ones you love." He gives me a knowing look.

"No it is not."

"Elvion, my child. He is not coming back. Why do you linger here? If you survive this war, he will still be gone. If Sauron is defeated you will still have to face the bitterness of mortality and loss." He says, "Come with us, come to the Valinor."

I stare at him. I can see the empathy on his face.

"I do not want to lose you." He says sadly. "Your brothers will come with us. And your mother, she will be there, waiting for us."

"I do not want to lose you." I answer him. It's a beautiful picture. My parents reunited and I would be able to see my mother again. My family would be together. He's right, after this is all over, there will be nothing left for me to do in Middle Earth and no one for me to go home to. 

"Middle earth will never be the same. There is nothing here for you. Come with us." He says again. 

"Yes. When Sauron is gone, and if I survive, I will be there at the Grey Havens. With you." I make up my mind. I do not want to stay here without Aragorn or my family. If I cannot be with him, I want to be with them.

"I know it is not easy." My father says again, reaching his hand forward as if he wants to comfort me. He seems to remember that he isn't actually with me and pulls his hand back. "Namárië (be well/ goodbye)."